Also known as Lu An Gua Pian, this tea is one of the famous leaves of China. I tried some back when I wasn’t as sure about tea in general, and it helped me realise how fantastic Chinese greens can be, so I remember it fondly and sample it every chance I get.

The leaves are green and long with curled edges. I steep a heaping teaspoon per cup at 180° for two minutes. The cup smells relatively mild, with a slight vegetal note and some lemon acidity.

I am surprised by the level of acidity in the cup overall. Normally this leaf is richer and more vegetal, but this take is brighter, with a strong hit of lemon acidity backed by mild vegetal, grassy, and cream notes. It isn’t bitter or unpleasant, and the acidity has enough flavour to back it up, but I would like more vegetal notes to round out the flavour profile.

Overall, it’s a fine tea. I don’t think I’ve fallen in love, but it’s a solid staple, something Adagio does well. It’s the sort of tea I have around all the time and drink when I want a cup that’s relatively simple and easy, but not one I’m going to get particularly excited about.

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Lately I’ve been enjoying Arctic Mood’s organic bagged teas. All of their teas are made with a touch of wild Icelandic Herbs, making them unique as a tea company. Their Nettle & Ginger tea is a detox tea and is meant to boost your energy levels. Detox teas can be a little iffy and needs to be selected carefully. I have had multiple bad experiences with detox teas so I approach them with caution.

This detox tea is all natural and made with nettle, fennel seeds, cardamom seeds, dandelion root, field horsetail, angelica, ginger, green pepper, aniseeds and stars, and rose pepper. A majority of these ingredients are known to aid digestion. I steeped one tea bag in a cup of 90C water for 5 minutes. The water turned a light orange-green color. The smell of ginger, fennel, green pepper, and cardamom is very evident. It has a smell similar to Chai.

The worry with a tea like this is that the spices won’t be properly balanced. There are a lot of strong, over-powering ingredients in this tea. Luckily, they all seemed to blend beautifully. The tea isn’t overpowering or bitter what-so-ever. It is mellow with just enough of a kick. It is rich and sweet.

I have had many detox teas with an unpleasant flavor. The tea was for more the benefits than the flavor. This tea has a wonderful flavor and is a detox tea I would enjoy drinking every morning! my stomach as feels fine after drinking it. No problems with stomach aches or digestion. If you’re searching for the right detox tea, I suggest you try this one.

At this point, Genki Matcha has only one tea, this signature matcha. The powder is a beautiful forest green colour. I sift it, add water, and whisk away. It froths up extremely well, with the bubbles covering the entire surface of the tea and not dissipating quickly.

It smells like hay and grass, but the flavour is more grassy than anything else. There’s none of the brilliant sweetness that I search for in quality matchas, but there’s none of the telltale bitterness or astringency you find in cheap matchas. It has a bright, acidic finish, but it doesn’t leave my mouth feeling dry. The aftertaste has a nice hit of vegetal flavour and leaves a lingering umami flavour on my tongue.

Overall, the lack of sweetness or buttery flavour means this isn’t my favourite matcha, but I don’t really have any big complaints about it, either. It’s an interesting profile for a matcha, and while it doesn’t hit the notes I prefer, it’s a quality tea.

— To purchase Genki Matcha, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular tea, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.

From my tea beginnings I have loved The Republic of Tea. I’ve also recently enjoyed learning about matcha and its rituals. When I heard that The Republic of Tea created bagged matcha and green tea blends with other herbs, I couldn’t wait to try it.

Keep in mind, these blends aren’t your typical, vegetal matcha. The addition of herbs and green tea leaves make for a lighter, more balanced flavor. I requested three blends, and the second I tried was Immunity. Immunity is a blend of echinacea and elder flower; living in the world of NYC pollution and germs, it’s a welcome addition to my morning.

The scent of the dry tea bag is overwhelming tart in a pleasant way, almost citrusy. In the cup the flavors mellow out and the smoothness of elderflower shines through. I enjoyed this tea with a splash of almond milk that added a pleasant nuttiness to the tart florals of the tea.

I enjoyed this one hot, but I can see how it would be pleasant iced as well, you would just have to double the tea to concentrate flavors over ice.

Founded in 1992, The Republic of Tea’s mission has always been to travel the world looking for the most premium teas to include in their blends. They are committed to teas being enjoyed sip by sip, rather than gulp by gulp and nurture their republic so it can grow. I agree that there’s nothing like a quiet moment with a warm cup of tea. It can change your whole outlook.

I haven’t tried anything from Sanne Tea (pronounced, according to the website, like “sanity”), but they’re exactly the sort of company I love. They specialise in pure Taiwanese teas and have a limited selection of leaves, all of which look spectacular.

This Spring 2015 offering is a lightly roasted and oxidised, hand-picked oolong grown at around 300 metres. The leaves are mid-to-large in size, dark, shiny green, and balled up. I put 5 grams in a 5-ounce yixing, rinse, then brew at 195° for 40 seconds. My first cup has a light amber-yellow liquor with a delicately milky and floral scent. Jin Xuan is also known as milk oolong, so I’m happy to find the milky scent translates beautifully to the flavour. It’s very delicate, largely creamy with a hint of floral undertone and mineral aftertaste. It’s so mild it walks the line between bland and delicate, but the brilliant creamy taste saves it.

My second infusion is 1 minute, and it has a much thicker body than the first. It coats the mouth with a vegetal and mineral flavour. It’s still a mild tea, but it’s much less delicate than before. Unfortunately, while there is some creaminess left, it is largely overpowered now.

My 1.5-minute third infusion has an edge of woodiness to it now. There’s no creaminess. It’s largely mineral, coating the mouth and leaving a tingling, acidic finish that lingers on. By steep four, the tea has mellowed out significantly. It’s still very flavourful, but the mineral, oak, and acidity are all blended together in one delicious taste. I increase my time by 1 minute for each of the remaining steeps and end up with 8 cups total before the leaves give out.

After brewing this gong-fu style, I have enough leaf to brew it the Western way: 1 teaspoon per cup for 3 minutes. It’s still brilliantly aromatic and has a strong cream flavour with mild lilac and mineral notes. In short, it’s delicious either way you want to brew it. I have grown to appreciate companies that only have a few teas as long as they do those few very well, and based on this sample, Sanne Tea does their teas well. I look forward to trying more from them in the future.

— To purchase Sanne Tea Jin Xuan, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular tea, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.

Pahadi tea is a tea company based in Temple, AZ that specializes in teas from India, specifically, the Himalayan Hill Region. They carry a variety of blended black teas, Green teas and nice selection of Chai teas.

I chose the Pahadi Masala Chai tea to taste and review. I was very interested to see that their Chai tea was made with Assam. Many times, tea companies use a lighter tea and the spices are emphasized. But I love a good strong cup of tea, and Assam tea is often the base I prefer for my flavored teas so that they have a good body.

When I opened the tea, I saw that it was a nice dark black tea. I was also pleased to see that the spices were obvious with nice sized pieces, including a whole cardamom seed!! It smelled wonderful. I could see the mint pieces that made this Chai Tea so unique, though I didn’t smell it.

I brewed this tea, one cup at time. I used a teaspoon of tea for each 8oz of fresh cold water that I had brought just to boil. I started with a steep time of 4 minutes and increased each cup by a minute… up 6 minutes. I am pleased to say that this tea never got bitter, and the increased steeping time only served to make a stronger flavored tea.

The tea is very rich and pleasing. I instantly tasted the the unique addition of mint and the spices are fantastic! It took sugar well, though I preferred using honey. It took milk fairly well, though, when I had only steeped it 4 minutes it was a bit weak to add milk.

I really enjoyed this tea and was disappointed when I had used up my sample. I would definitely choose this tea for my next Chai flavored tea because it was so smooth and perfectly balanced.

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